Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/187653
R oad rumors were the talk of the summer: On call-in shows, the CB and social media, truckers debated the likelihood of a further delay in the California Air Resources Board's powertrain upgrade compliance requirements for small fleets and owneroperators. Owner-operators and fleets of three and fewer trucks registered with CARB had been granted a reprieve from compliance with rules to date requiring upgrades of trucks with 1996-2004 model-year engines. At year-end, two things happen that will affect thousands of owner-operators: That extension runs out and 2005-06 engines now come into CARB's upgrade mix. "We've heard rumblings that there are probably going to be extensions," reader Donna Klaffky Pullan posted to Overdrive's Facebook page in August. "What are you hearing?" Simply, further extensions are not in the offing, says CARB Public Information Officer Karen Caesar. Come Jan. 1, she notes, "the first [particulate matter] filter is now required" for small fleets with 19962006 model-year equipment under the upgrade requirements of the agency's Statewide Truck and Bus Rule. For owner-operators of trucks powered by 1996-2006 model-year engines, this means it's compliance crunch time if you live in or are running into California on a regular basis. The resulting strategies range from short- to long-term. Shifting freight lanes or continuing to avoid California are the most common options for owneroperators nationwide, according to summer polling. Forty-five percent of Overdrive readers noted they'd either quit running there (33 percent) or never did in the first place (12 percent). Owner-operator Bill Taylor's 2007 Western Star, powered by a 2006 14-liter 515-hp Detroit engine, was leased to FedEx Ground until recently. "They told me I'd have to have my truck CARBcompliant," Taylor says. He researched his options, working in part with his business services provider, ATBS, and the 30 | Overdrive | October 2013 CARB.indd 30 9/30/13 9:12 PM